bullets and bouquets

67

"Sir, we have something," Pierre radios to Trent.

"What is it?"

"We've located families for over half of the children," he answers. They have files pulled up of their families and where they are located.

"Perfect, I'll have the partners prep the children," Trent states, "Good work."

"Thank you, Sir."

Trent walks over to Gianna, Robin, and Briar, "Pierre and Lyle have located families for over half of the children. We need to prep them to go home."

"Prep them?" Gianna asks.

"They can't know where they came from," Briar explains, "We have to tell the children to not tell the adults."

"They're kids, how do we expect them to not tell?"

"We could give them little cards to give to their parents," Robin suggests.

"And they would say what, exactly?" Trent asks.

"Maybe they were saved by angels and we aren't seeking a reward," she suggests. Trent thinks for a moment.

"That could work," he states, "You need to express to the children to tell their parents that. Like as a secret. Children like secrets, don't they?"

"They sure do," Briar smiles, "Get us a list of names and we'll have them prepped. We should drop them off at night."

"Yes, Miss," Trent answers. He walks away to go find Pierre and Lyle.

"You guys aren't worried about the children telling?" Gianna asks when Trent walks away.

"I mean, everything we do comes with a risk, but we're getting people their children back," Briar states, "I think any parent would rather have their child back even if a gang leader saved them."

"True," she replies, "Let's get to work on this note."

***

"Where are they?" Natalia asks. Finn and Dacre point down a hallway. It's quiet, "Are you sure?"

"Stop!" Sabrina screams in the distance. Bella's heart begins to race.

"Yeah, let's go," Dacre says. The four begin to walk down the hallway toward the sound. Dacre and Finn walk first with the girls following behind them. All four of them have their guns drawn. The woman continues to beat Sadie while Sabrina screams.

"Stop! Please, hit me! Hit me, instead!" she screams. The woman turns to her with a grin. She leaves Sadie alone and punches Sabrina in the abdomen. She begins to cough up blood and she chokes for a second as she pulls on the chain.

The four walk up to a door where the sound is the loudest. Finn pulls an amnesia bomb out of his bag. Before he can throw it into the room, five men come up from behind them.

"Ah!" Bella screams as she is grabbed by two sets of hands. Natalia's gun goes off as another man grabs her.

"Natalia!"

"Bella!" Finn shouts as he and Dacre turn around. The two girls have guns on their foreheads with arms wrapped around their necks, "Let them go!"

"Put that bomb away," one man orders. Finn puts the bomb back into his bag, "Guns down."

Both of them obey and drop their guns, raising their hands in surrender.

"The bag too," another man orders. Finn drops the bag to the ground, "Go ahead, walk in there."